Tokaido: Eriku

About this expansion

Tokaido: Eriku is a bonus character card for Tokaido and Tokaido Crossroads, games listed for 2–5 players with a playing time of 45 minutes. Released in 2013, this promotional character brings a personal convention story to the Tokaido journey.

The card was handed out at the 2013 Essen Spiel fair alongside the release of Crossroads. Eriku is a friendly wink to Eric Burgess, host of the podcast Boardgame Babylon, after an amusing rules moment at the Strategicon convention in Los Angeles in 2012.

While teaching Tokaido during the event, Eric explained that travelers took a meal at the beginning of the game, at their departure relay station. That was a small rule mistake: the first meal must be earned rather than enjoyed before the journey begins.

When the mistake was gently corrected, Eric answered, “Of course we eat before starting the trip, we are Americans ain’t we!” The character Eriku was born shortly afterward, turning this friendly exchange into a distinctive piece of Tokaido history.

• Type: Bonus character card
• Compatible with: Tokaido and Tokaido Crossroads
• First released: 2013
• Origin: A tribute to Eric Burgess and Boardgame Babylon

For collectors and fans of the series, Eriku is more than a name on a card: it is a compact reminder of how game teaching, convention friendships, and a memorable joke can become part of a game’s story. Eriku is also included in Tokaido: Crossroads & Matsuri, released in 2025.